I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Salesforce (Indianapolis, IN) in Feb 2017
Interview
It all started with multiple conversations with the HR recruiter about different teams and roles across couple weeks. The recruiter was very knowledgeable about what different teams are working on along with technical skill the team needs at the moment. I was phone screened and then called for an interview on site. A team of four people interviewed me for my technical as well as behavioral skills. I was asked about how I responded to work challenges under different circumstances. I was asked various kinds of technical questions on algorithms, hashing, etc. but not limited to computer science. I did a whiteboard test as well. Everyone on the team was very knowledgeable about their domain. I learned new things other than answering what I knew at the moment. Overall, I enjoyed being interviewed at Salesforce.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is MD5?, Is hashing reversible?, What are some ways to avoid collisions faced with hashing?, etc.
The technical interview was much tougher than I anticipated. I faced a DSA question related to word searches that required optimizing a brute-force approach with a Trie. It was intense, but the practice I’d done on PracHub the week before really helped solidify my understanding of the problem-solving techniques. The behavioral round felt lighter, focusing on teamwork and project experience. After a couple of days, I received an offer, which I happily accepted. Overall, it was a challenging yet rewarding experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Word Search II - given an m x n board of characters and a list of words, return all words that can be formed from sequentially adjacent cells; had to optimize the brute-force backtracking with a Trie to pass the time limit
The interview process started with an online coding assessment that included DSA and problem-solving questions. After clearing the test, I had two technical interview rounds focused on data structures, OOPs concepts, DBMS, and project discussion. The final round was with the hiring manager where they asked about teamwork, problem solving, and career goals. The interviewers were professional and the process was smooth overall.
Went through 3 rounds. First round was a technical interview - it was a take home assessment. I didn't pass the test cases but still went through to the next round. The onsite had 1 behavioral, 1 system design, and 1 technical Leetcode style interview. It was in person on a whiteboard.